A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It is very hard to tell what "Kiss of the Spider Woman" is all about with only one explanation. It is a film of differences and controversies. It is a story of two opposite characters sharing the same prison cell during the military regime in Brazil. One of them is Luis, (William Hurt) a transgender woman, jailed for having sex with an underage boy. The other one is Valentin (Raul Julia), jailed for his activities on behalf of a revolutionary group. Their unlikely friendship is defined through the realities of Valentin and the fantasy world that is created by Luis using the scenes and plots from a Nazi Propaganda film. Luis is telling the story of the film to escape the reality and creates an alternative world both for Valentin and himself. Kiss of the Spider Woman is a controversial film with detailed conversations that are the strongest points of the film. Its beauty is hidden in the depths and intensities of the characters, their sentences and conversations. In almost every scene there is a clash of thoughts and controversies, but even so, both Valentin and Luis manage to form a highly unusual friendship. Luis is telling the story of a film about Nazis, but, in my opinion, that film is the combination of everything he has seen and his inner thoughts. It is amazing how this same film is perceived from totally opposite angles. Luis enjoys the love and passion of the main character, where Valentin hates the story because Nazis are against his own beliefs. Characters, also in the made-up film, are different than each other by all means. This is very important for the message of the film. Because after all, the inner thoughts of these men are not that different even though their lives are. Kiss of the Spider Woman is a film within a film. This is the most common expression used for defining this film. Because when there is a real story going on, in the same time Luis is also telling a different story. In my opinion that story carries the real message of the film; because, as I have mentioned above, it is the inner thoughts of Luis and how he pictures fantasy. That fantasy is his own reality. This is visualized in the best possible way. In some scenes we get to see Valentin yelling at Luis and calling him names. This is reality. He really does that, but on the other hand, in one scene when guard gives him two plates with food, he sees that one plate has more food than the other and insists Luis to take it. With a simple gesture like this, we get to see the transformation of Valentin against his own reality.Those two characters end the film in a very different place than they have started. There is not even one sentence or one conversation that is there just to fill in an empty spot. In every word, every sentence and gesture there is a deep character analysis of the director Hector Babenco. This highly characterized conversations got him a nomination for Best Director Award. In a character oriented film like this, it would be such a shame for William Hurt not to get the Best Actor in a Leading Role Award. For the year 1985, I can say that he is playing a highly unusual character with a complicated life and soul. You feel these complications from the beginning until the very end of the film. Other than the films that are told by Luis, Kiss of the Spider Woman takes place mostly in a prison cell except for the last 15 minutes. So, imagine how conversations are fulling their missions and keep audience within the range of interest. When Luis is telling the story of the film, audience get to listen and wonder what will happen next. Even in this point, Kiss of the Spider Woman is unique. During the film, he keeps telling different stories of different films. Actually, Kiss of the Spider Woman gets its name from one of those stories. That woman turns out to be the lover of Valentin who has nothing to do with his reality and belief. Valentin portrays her as rich and beautiful. His whispering her name in his sleep is a splendid example of what Valentin actually wants and what he actually does. His complicated inner self is explained also in the scene where he refuses to eat avocado for self-discipline. In this point of view the director shows us that, basically, both of the characters are actually the mirror of each other. It is such an extraordinary talent to be able to share the message of being actually the very same person by using only controversial points and oppositions of the characters. Luis is the inner self of Valentin, whereas Valentin is the reality of Luis.Kiss of the Spider Woman is an amazing film from the points I have tried to explain above. We are trying very hard to be the person we are not, and we are the person that we want to be, mostly in our thoughts, a reality that is reflected very well in the film. This highly characterized film is nominated for Best Picture as well as Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. The message of the film is like a universal truth. The unlikely friendship of the characters is the essential for making this film truly amazing.

Luis Molina and Valentin Arregui are cell mates in a South American prison. Luis, a trans individual, is found guilty of immoral behavior and Valentin is a political prisoner. To escape reality Luis invents romantic movies, while Valentin tries to keep his mind on the situation he's in. During the time they spend together, the two men come to understand and respect one another.William Hurt won the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film was also nominated for Best Picture (the first independent film to do so -- it lost to "Out of Africa"), Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Hurt also won Best Actor at the BAFTA Awards, the 1985 Cannes Film Festival and several other festivals. The film was awarded the inaugural Golden Space Needle award from the Seattle International Film Festival.William Hurt is incredible, but so is Raul Julia. It seems he is today (2015) best remembered for playing Gomez Addams, but he was so much more than that.

The plot behind Kiss of the Spider Woman is much more complex than the almost goofy title would suggest. It's not a low budget science fiction film but rather a two man show largely taking place in a small South American prison. Political firebrand Valentin Arregui (Julia) is tossed into a cell for sedition by the government. He's angry, brash and ready to die for his beliefs. His bunk-mate Luis Molina (Hurt) is a pederast homosexual who is not exactly inclined to politics. He spends his time retelling in fluid detail, the love story of his favorite movie, an unnamed Nazi propaganda film involving a seductive vamp. What starts out as a rocky relationship soon turns into a quaint and ultimately tragic love story where trust is brought to its limits.Based off a book of the same name written by Manuel Puig, Kiss of the Spider Woman leaves much to the imagination; which is kind of the point. Much of the two main character's dialogue tows the line between sub-textual to cryptic and yet so much is said and understood. The stories Molina weaves echo and even foreshadows the events taking place in the isolated prison cell and though the friendship soon leads to something more, the characters are so wonderfully three-dimensional even the most squeamish of audiences won't mind tender moments shared between the two male leads.Raul Julia's Valentin is head strong and disciplined; trying with all his will to undermine the government's ominous authority. Valentin however is sequestered from the rest of the prison population and is never seen with anyone else in the prison except his cell-mate. No doubt them bunking together is meant to be a humiliation to Valentin purported by the prison Warden (Lewjoy). As a result, all of Valentin's rage is unfairly released on the kind and loving Molina. William Hurt turns in quite a performance as Julia's foil, moving and speaking with a level that moves beyond homosexual archetypes; a progressive thing for 1985. By the end of the film Luis is changed by his relationship with Valentin, so much so that he aids him in his fight not out of a renewed political awakening but out of a need to find worth in life though unrequited love.Kiss of the Spider Woman can be slow at times and suffers from some pedestrian direction by Hector Babenco. In fairness to Mr. Babenco, almost the entire film takes place in one prison cell. I'd imagine it'd be hard to fit the two actors, himself, the DP, the AD, the gaffer, the sound mixer, the grip and whatever other crew you'd need into tiny little cage. Occasionally the camera wonders away from the prison into the expressionistic sets of the film in Molina's imagination. Like the characters we get a respite from the imposing prison yet the film simply doesn't take enough chances with the idea. Segments featuring the actual "Spider Woman" (Braga) are like watching mediocre Guy Maddin movies; there's artistry clearly at work but it's abundantly plain there was no budget.Despite this, the film remains an important and interesting little character piece that highlights gay issues and specifically gay love at a time few others did. It's a bittersweet, beautiful and haunting tale that shouldn't be overlooked despite mediocre sets and evident thrift. The story has since been made into a musical that achieved success on Broadway and London's West End which makes sense. A story this universal and audacious shouldn't be kept in the confines of a good flick but should be seen in haste in all arty forms.

While many like Hector Babenco's brilliant, raw 'Pixote' better, I find his deeply emotional portrait of two lost souls surviving together in a South American prison cell even more riveting. The two towering performances – William Hurt's feminine gay storyteller, and Raul Julia's angry but frail (emotionally and physically) leftist are by far the best work either has done on film.The intricacies of their slowly evolving relationship are complex, powerfully moving, and sometimes disturbing, And while probably 60% of the film takes place in one room, the film never feels like a play. It's always cinematic. A special film that holds up to repeated viewings.